


confusion is nothing new

by dozencandles



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25088809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dozencandles/pseuds/dozencandles
Summary: If you don't take advantage of temporal displacement to troll your spouse do you even love them anymore?
Relationships: Drift | Deadlock/Ratchet
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	confusion is nothing new

**Author's Note:**

> A writing exercise I guess? I couldn't sleep due to neighbors competing to see who could be The Most Annoying during the 4th of July...so this happened. Title taken from "Time after Time" by Cyndi Lauper

Ratchet wasn't stupid. Sure, opening up a free clinic in a notorious crime ridden area was _dangerous_ but that didn't mean he was gonna be _stupid_ about it. He rather prided himself on how clever he was with the whole thing. No one important knew, and that was what mattered.

Well. _Someone_ important knew. And that important someone was now standing right in the middle of his little free clinic. Unharmed, unwounded. No telltale sparks of circuit-boosters flickering at the joints.

Ratchet wasn't stupid. It didn't take a genius to recognize wealth when he saw it. Nor was he poetic enough to bother wasting his words on descriptions. If he got really sloshed after this, he _might_ drop a "scarlet" or maybe even a "glowing." Bottom line? Judging by the paint quality, and the _giant slagging jewel_ on the largest sword combined with the way the strange mech held himself? His new visitor was no stranger to the finer things in life. 

And if Ratchet didn't get an explanation, the mech wouldn't be a stranger to his wrench either.

"Can I help you?" He asked loudly, boredly. No reason to let the stranger know he was suspicious from the moment he saw his door left slightly ajar. He didn't know this mech's type yet, didn't know if he was important enough to worry about or just another gutter-slumming tourist. The elite did that sometimes. Took on "charity cases." Ratchet's attitude soured at the thought; the conversation wouldn't even _begin_ pleasantly if that was the case.

The visitor's finials tilted back sharply at the sound (startled him, hah), even as he turned gracefully and looked over Ratchet with a strange look in his eye. Lost. Thoughtful.

A genuine smile.

"Sorry, I…" He paused, staring far too long than Ratchet was comfortable with. Ratchet crossed his arms and tapped a pede.

"I think I'm lost?" He offered weakly, still staring, still _smiling._

"Uh-huh." Ratchet replied flatly. He met the mech's stare with one of his own, a vastly unimpressed one. To his credit, the mech didn't shrink but the smile softened into something more tender. Ratchet narrowed his eyes, a trick Orion once told him felt like being pinned to a concrete wall by well, another concrete wall. 

"I don't want any sponsors." He finally said after it seemed the silence might never end. 

"I'm not here for that." The stranger said. 

"Then what brings you to my fine establishment?" He asked, deciding if the mech was going to attack him he'd at least like to have one last drink before it happened. He crossed the floor to his "desk" (really just a shelf at the right height with a salvaged chair) and pulled up a floor panel to bring out a bottle. He'd been saving this for a while. Might as well have some now.

The mech did not attack. Instead he took Ratchet's question as an invitation to look around some more.

"Heard about this place from a friend." He finally answered. "Wanted to see if it looked how I imagined it." His optics darted to Ratchet and darted away just as fast.

"Yes, I just love when strangers break in and wait for me to come back." Ratchet drawled, pouring a measure out and taking a sip. 

"Did I scare you?" The stranger asked, tone bordering on playful.

"No." Ratchet said immediately. "If you were from the Council or Senate, you'd have told me by now. Slaggers love talking about themselves. Might've been suspicious, but not scared."

He got a head tilt in recognition, but not much else. He watched the mech walk around, some part of him wondering _why exactly_ he was letting this happen.

(Assess the situation.)

Obviously the visitor wasn't hurt, or here _to_ hurt. He didn't appear to be the average "slummer" either. Didn't match any profiles either, which was par for course here, but _not_ with the way this mech was built. That frame was _solid._ If he was still back at the academy and they were in a bar, he'd definitely have tried to get a comm-frequency.

"Can I at least get a name?" He asked, taking another sip. The visitor hummed thoughtfully, passing his hand over a tray of tools but not touching anything.

"It doesn't matter." His visitor said, turning to him once more. "I won't be here for much longer."

"You can leave right now if you like." Ratchet said snidely. The mech laughed and trailed a few fingers down the medical slab.

"There's a lot I could tell you." The visitor admitted. "But...Do you believe in the grace of Primus, Ratchet?"

'I hate evangelists." He said, only to hear that laugh again.

"Maybe you'll understand someday…" His visitor said, coming closer. Ratchet tensed, but no sooner had his joints locked than the mech stopped. Still wearing that damn placid smile.

"Relax." He said. "I'm on my way out."

 _You know where the door is,_ is what Ratchet intended to say, had he not been interrupted by the mech _vanishing_ in a burst of light so bright it sent him reeling, falling off the chair and landing hard on his aft. 

When the glare had finally faded, he looked around at his empty clinic and, with a shake of his head reached for the bottle and drank directly from it.

Ratchet wasn't stupid. But he sure as pit was confused. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you're comfortable, feel free to leave constructive criticism. I feel like this is a little bumpy. Maybe I'll fix it up later.


End file.
